A Novena to St Joseph : Day 1 - The Annunciation

Mother & son (author). The Scottish Highlands (c.1958)

Today is the feast of St Andrew and also the anniversary of the death of my dear mother in 1977.

ETERNAL rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen.

REQUIEM æternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

This year, today is also the start of my novena to St Joseph, spouse most chaste of the Blessed Virgin and foster-father of Our Lord.

1) The Annunciation

Whom of the Holy Spirit, thou
A virgin pure conceivedst,
When Gabriel's word, with meekest bow
Assenting, thou believedst. Hail Mary.

Quem virgo carens vitio
de flamine concepisti:
dum Gabrieli nuntio
humillime consensisti. Ave Maria.

O Mary, a virgin without any stain of sin, thou didst conceive of the Holy Spirit when, with deepest humility, Thou gavest thy assent to Gabriel, envoy (of the Almighty).

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us

Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis

I BELIEVE in … Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

CREDO … in Iesum Christum, Filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum, qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine,

Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.

Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem descendit de caelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine: Et homo factus est.

The Gospel account

The Annunciation. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

St Luke recounts the Annunciation in Chapter 1 of his Gospel. The angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 

The text says that Mary was a virgin espoused to Joseph. The Latin word is desponsatam, which means promised or betrothed. It is generally believed that Mary was contracted to marry Joseph at the time of the Annunciation; she had not, however, moved in to live with Joseph. According to the existing law and custom, any child conceived during the period of betrothal was regarded as being conceived in wedlock. 

The angel being come in, said to Mary: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” Mary was troubled at these words, and she thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. Gabriel reassured her, saying: “Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Mary asked the angel a question: “How shall this be done, because I know not man?” Gabriel answered her, saying: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee, and therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

Mary said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word,” and the angel departed from her.

St Matthew supplies additional information regarding the conception and birth of Christ. He starts with the genealogy of Christ, starting with Abraham and descending to Joseph’s father Jacob. He uses the same form of words for each generation until he gets to Joseph, e.g., Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and so on. He changes the wording when he gets to Joseph, saying not that Joseph begot Jesus, but :  “And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” 

We may note firstly that Joseph is described as the husband (virum, man or husband) of Mary; and secondly that Joseph did not beget Jesus, but that He was born of Mary.

Matthew goes on to relate : “Now the generation of Christ was in this wise. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child, of the Holy Ghost.” This seems to confirm that Mary had not moved in to live with her husband at the time of the Annunciation. Matthew then describes Joseph’s reaction : “Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately.” 

Joseph will have known certain things : 

• Mary was betrothed to him as his wife; betrothal was by law and custom the same as marriage, with the sole difference that the bride had not yet left her home to live with her husband; 
• he was not the father of the child Mary’s womb. 

Beyond this, I am not sure what else Joseph knew or understood. Did he understand that Mary had taken a vow of virginity before the betrothal was agreed? Some writers think he did, and that he too had resolved to live chastely. Did he have any inkling of the true paternity of Mary’s child? 

Whatever the answer to that question, Joseph was to receive reassurance from an Angel in his sleep: 

“But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: ‘Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost; and she shall bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins.”

It seems safe to assume that Joseph acted promptly after this message from the angel and that he took Mary at this point into his home to be his wife.

Prayer asking St Joseph to be one's companion and guide in this life

Oratio, ut S. Ioseph in via vitae huius ducem et comitem impetremus.  

St. Joseph. J-J Tissot.

O SAINT JOSEPH, just as thou as father and mentor didst most faithfully guide Jesus Christ during His boyhood and adolescence through His journeys in this life, I beseech thee to assist me in the wanderings of my life as just such a companion and guide. Never permit me to turn aside from the path of God's commandments. Be for me a protection in adversity, and a solace in hardship, until I finally arrive in the land of the living, where I may rejoice forever with thee, with the most holy spouse Mary, and with all the saints in my God Jesus. Amen.

O S. IOSEPH! qui tanquam pater et manuductor Christum Iesum in pueritia et iuventute per omnes peregrinationis humanæ vias fidelissime deduxisti: et mihi obsecro in vitae meæ peregrinatione tanquam comes et ductor assiste, nec unquam permitte me a via mandatorum Dei declinare; sis in adversis præsidium, in ærumnis solatium, donec tandem ad terram viventium perveniam, ubi tecum et sanctissima sponsa tua Maria, omnibusque Sanctis æternum in Deo Iesu meo exultem. Amen.

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

A Novena to St Joseph : Preliminary

The following series of posts is the result of an accumulation of considerations all prompting me towards a more explicit veneration of St Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin and foster-father of Jesus of Nazareth. These considerations include the following, listed not in importance but chronologically as they appeared in my life:

• When I was a boy, the local secondary school for Catholics was called St. Joseph's R.C High School, Nuneaton. My siblings attended this school but I went to King Edward VI Grammar School in Nuneaton. The latter was founded thanks to a bequest by a Catholic benefactor but traces its official history to the Protestant King Edward, 1552.
• My own children attended Our Lady and St Joseph's RC Primary School, Hackney. After a relocation of the family, my sons attended St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Hendon. They then moved up to the Salvatorian College, next to St Joseph’s Church, Wealdstone and Harrow Weald.
• In the early 1980’s, I read Fatima, the Great Sign, by Francis Johnston. I discovered that Lucia reported that, among the scenes she witnessed on the 13th of October, she saw St. Joseph carrying the child Jesus:

“After Our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus appeared to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands.” [Fatima in Lucia’s own words. 2007]

• Quite recently, I discovered St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus had a devotion to St. Joseph. Here are the words she wrote concerning a trip planned to Rome:  

“I was well aware that during this journey I might come across things that would disturb me; knowing nothing of evil, I feared I might discover it. As yet I had not experienced that "to the pure all things are pure,"1 that a simple and upright soul does not see evil in anything, because evil exists only in impure hearts and not in inanimate objects. I prayed specially to St. Joseph to watch over me; from my childhood, devotion to him has been interwoven with my love for our Blessed Lady. Every day I said the prayer beginning: St. Joseph, Father and Protector of Virgins. . . so I felt I was well protected and quite safe from danger.” [Chapter VI of her Histoire d’une Âme]

• She also wrote a poem to St Joseph in which she refers to the Foundress of her Carmelite Order, St Teresa of Ávila. St Teresa herself had a strong devotion to St Joseph.

Reflections on St Joseph in the Rosarium Aureum

The Rosarium Aureum, or Golden Rosary, is a form of the Rosary dating from the Middle Ages. This Rosary presents the drama of Salvation History, focussing on Our Lord’s life from the moment of the Annunciation to His Second Coming. The drama is divided into five Acts, each Act containing ten scenes. Each scene is accompanied by a verse of four lines. When praying the Golden Rosary, it is customary to say one Pater at the beginning of each Act and one Ave Maria after each verse. For those who wish to pray this Rosary as a Marian Psalter, three Ave Maria’s are recited with each scene, making a total of 150 (+3) for the completed Rosary.

In this booklet, I have selected those scenes in the Rosarium where Joseph is present, finishing with his death, on which the Gospel is silent but which by tradition occurred before the Miracle at Cana.

Prayer asking St Joseph to be one's companion and guide in this life

Oratio, ut S. Ioseph in via vitae huius ducem et comitem impetremus.  

O SAINT JOSEPH, just as thou as father and mentor didst most faithfully guide Jesus Christ during His boyhood and adolescence through His journeys in this life, I beseech thee to assist me in the wanderings of my life as just such a companion and guide. Never permit me to turn aside from the path of God's commandments. Be for me a protection in adversity, and a solace in hardship, until I finally arrive in the land of the living, where I may rejoice forever with thee, with the most holy spouse Mary, and with all the saints in my God Jesus. Amen.

O S. IOSEPH! qui tanquam pater et manuductor Christum Iesum in pueritia et iuventute per omnes peregrinationis humanæ vias fidelissime deduxisti: et mihi obsecro in vitae meæ peregrinatione tanquam comes et ductor assiste, nec unquam permitte me a via mandatorum Dei declinare; sis in adversis præsidium, in ærumnis solatium, donec tandem ad terram viventium perveniam, ubi tecum et sanctissima sponsa tua Maria, omnibusque Sanctis æternum in Deo Iesu meo exultem. Amen.

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal : an important anniversary

Today is the anniversary of my Baptism, which took place when I was three weeks old, on Friday the 27th of November 1953, the feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, in the church of St Theresa of the Child Jesus (Perry Bar, Birmingham). I discovered this very late in life and, Deo volente, I shall never cease to thank Almighty God for everything He did to make this possible on His Mother's feast day and in a church dedicated to Ste Thérèse. 

Laudetur Jesus Christus et Maria Immaculata!

The following text is reproduced from The Miraculous Medal Shrine website:

"It’s very tiny, barely an inch long and half-inch wide. There’s nothing elaborate or stunning about it. It’s not even made out of silver or gold. How can something so small and simple be such a momentous force in the world? And yet, it is."

THE APPARITIONS

It began on the night of July 18, 1830, when a beautiful child, dressed in white and emanating heavenly light, awakened a young Daughter of Charity novice, Catherine Labouré, from her sleep. She followed him to the Chapel, where all the candles were lit, as if for midnight Mass. After hearing something that sounded like the rustling of a silk dress, Catherine saw a beautiful woman walk in and sit on the chair used by the director of the community. She remarked, “I went closer and, throwing myself on my knees, rested my hands on the knees of the Blessed Virgin. At that instant, I tasted the sweetest joy of my life—a delight beyond expression.”

The next time Mary appeared on November 27, 1830, she was standing on the world with her feet crushing the head of a serpent, with a “globe in her hands. Her eyes were lifted up to Heaven, and her countenance was radiant as she offered the globe to Our Lord.” Then, Catherine saw that Mary had rings of precious stones on her fingers. Rays of light beamed from the stones, enveloping Mary “in such a dazzling light that I could see neither her feet nor the robe. …It is beyond my power to give an idea of the beauty and magnificence of the rays.”

During this apparition, Mary told her that the rays symbolize the graces that she bestows to all who ask for them. The stones that shed no light represent the graces that people forget to ask for. Then an oval appeared around the Blessed Mother, with the words:

Ô Marie, conçue sans péché, priez pour nous qui avons recours à vous.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. 

Catherine heard the words, “Get a medal struck after this model. Those who wear it when it is blessed will receive great graces, especially if they wear it about the neck. Graces will be abundant for those who have confidence.” Then the image turned, and Catherine saw the letter M, intersected at the top with a cross and a bar. Underneath were the hearts of Jesus and Mary with twelve stars surrounding the entire image.

THE MEDALS

When Catherine Labouré told her spiritual director, Fr. Jean-Marie Aladel, CM, about what she had seen and heard, he wanted to take every precaution to ensure that the apparitions were authentic. It wasn’t until he spoke to the Archbishop of Paris and received his approval that Medals were made. This task was initially entrusted to Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette, one of the official jewelers of Louis XVIII’s court, in June of 1832. He started by producing two thousand Medals.

The Daughters of Charity began wearing them and giving them to the elderly and sick. Almost immediately, miraculous healings, cures, and conversions occurred; people began clamoring for the Medal of the Immaculate Conception (as it was originally called). The Medal quickly spread throughout France and then the world. Before long, people were calling it the Miraculous Medal; everyone wanted the Medal that Mary had brought from Heaven. Not only did the Archbishop of Paris request some of the first Medals, Pope Gregory XVI put one at the foot of the crucifix on his desk; and the founder of the Sister Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (in the United States) put the image of the Miraculous Medal on his ordination card.

The demand for the Medals became so great that between 1832 and 1836, Vachette made more than two million of them. There were eleven other engravers in Paris producing Medals, as well.

Indeed, the Medal is a condensed catechism on Mary. On it we see her as the woman who crushes the serpent’s head in Genesis (iii. 15) and the woman clothed with the sun in Revelation (xii.1). We see the Hearts of Jesus and Mary united at the Cross. The wording confirming Mary’s purity circles around her, and the rays from her hands depict her as the dispenser of God’s graces. So it wasn’t a surprise when on December 8, 1854, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was officially defined by the Church.

The Traditional Rite of Baptism

See here for a PDF showing the powerful words and actions that the Church included in the traditional rite of Baptism before the tragic excisions and alterations that followed on the Second Vatican Council.

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.